Blog 4: The International Appeal

This week most, if not all, of my blog post is going to be based on Henry Yu's "How Tiger Woods Lost His Stripes," and I will be focusing on the section "National Diversity and International Marketing." The quote, "There is a perverse irony in selling products back to places where capital has gone to find cheap labor,"  is what really caught my attention in this essay. So many beauty companies outsource their products these days. Whether it's for the product itself to be made or just the packaging, you will very likely see "Made in China" somewhere on the box. The beauty industry is a billion dollar industry all over the world in countries ranging from the US, Italy, France, and yes, even China. These same companies that outsource for cheap labor are still able to sell their products in that area.

How do you ask? Through print ads, commercials, and magazine editorials.

Celebrity endorsement ad in Asia
using American actress Angelina Jolie

Celebrity endorsement ad using Asian
celebrities Aishwaria Rai and
Rachida Brakni

Much like with any other product, the best way to sell is through advertising. And the best way to advertise is by using a celebrity. Many companies spend millions of dollars on celebrity endorsers in order to sell their products and reach many different demographics. More often than not the celebrity chosen is usually an American celebrity. While quite a few Americans spend their time trying to look more "exotic" with self tanners and long wavy hair extensions, some women in other cultures, some not all, strive to look like what they consider American beauty. Knowing this, companies use women who fit this ideal image. Slim, fair, and wide eyed. Even if they use a celebrity from their own country, they would still fit this model is ideal beauty.




 Although many women in Asia are naturally slim, not all of them have fair skin and wide eyes. But no need to fret because there are products and procedures for that. Skin lightening cream is a very popular among the women of all areas of Asia. 

Skin whitening ad

Blog 3: Commodity as a Spectacle

"The spectacle is the moment when the commodity has attained the total occupation of social life. The relation to the commodity is not only visible, but one no longer sees anything but it: the world one sees is its world. Modern economic production extends its dictatorship extensively and intensively." -Guy Debord

What I take from this is, in relation to makeup, the spectacle is whatever has taken over as the dominant brand in a certain industry. Whatever sells the most and is used the most.

The spectacle in the makeup industry would be MAC Cosmetics. MAC, a division of $6.3 billion cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, got credited in the company's last annual report for being a significant reason for the parent's 13% net makeup sales increase ($274.8 million). Amped-up sales from MAC's Small Eye Shadow, Studio Fix, Lustreglass, and Pro Longwear Lipcolor products alone contributed $70 million in revenue.

MAC has made more revenue than any other beauty brand on the market. It is used by both makeup artists and regular consumers alike and receives high praise from many of its consumers.

With single shadows ranging from $11-$15.50, lip gloss and lipstick $14.50-$16, and foundations and concealers upwards of $30, the products can get a little pricey. Even a regular face powder brush can set you back $52.  But these prices are just for the regular permanent items. Limited edition items can cost well over $100 on sites like eBay if you are not lucky enough to get them when the collections are first released.

But even with these prices and the many limited edition collections that come out each year, is MAC really the end all be all when it comes to makeup? Is it worth the hype?

Even though MAC is an expensive brand compared to drugstore products, it actually one of the least expensive department store products. Even though MAC’s lip gloss can be as much as $16, companies like NARS and Make-Up Forever charge $24 and $20 respectfully. Even those are cheaper than Dior and Chanel who charge $29.50 and $36.30 for their lip glosses.

In terms of quality, many loyal users of the brand who have been with them for years say MAC’s quality has deteriorated. It seems as the brand grows, it takes a toll on the quality. Some have even said MAC does not care about the customers anymore, they just care about getting as many products out as possible and making more money. Which seems to be true with 30 limited edition collections that came out in just this year alone, many of which received not so favorable reviews.

Below is a picture from a makeup artist’s blog where she swatches the shadow Plum Dressing by MAC.

On the left is the one she purchased in 2005 and the one on the right is one from this year. The pigmentation in the shadow has greatly diminished and she mentions that the application of the shadowed has worsened as well as the formula is not as smooth as it once was.

Even with these faults, MAC is still pushed as one of the best makeup brands and is one of the highest selling brands out there. Even though there are other brands, both more expensive and less expensive, that rival and could even beat MAC as the better brand. This just goes to show that the more a brand is forced on people, the more people will buy the hype.

Blog 2: Makeup Is For Whores!

Okay, the title is a little misleading. However, at one point in time, makeup was seen as something lower class women would wear.


Originally, makeup was worn by the "elite" or royalty. The earliest known makeup was made from copper and lead and worn by the Egyptians, most notably, Cleopatra. Famously depicted in her gold eye shadow and thick black liner, she wears one of the most noticeable makeup looks in history. The trend of makeup being only for the elite continued for a while until around the 1800s when social etiquette became more frigid and makeup was frowned upon.  Pale skin was a sign of pureness and gentility. Around the 1900s makeup was beginning to be worn by the "society ladies" but was still not spoken of. Cosmetics were actually kept under the counter and sold discretely because the ladies did not want anyone to know they were buying let alone using the products. In the 1920s, the ideal image for women was to be slim, completely natural and free of makeup and to keep a boyish silhouette. The 1920s was also the era of the flapper. Flappers were frowned upon because of their drinking, smoking, style of dane, and heavy makeup. Because of this they were seen as lower class. However, around the 40s and 50s, once everyone's favorite movie stars were seen wearing makeup, it was no longer taboo and then became "popular".


Now, that brief history of makeup may not be the most interesting or detailed, but it is just an example to show the cycle of something that is popular. What was once seen as something for the elite and royalty was then turned into something only "loose" or lower class women would wear. And then the cycle continues thereafter. 


In the 1900s, makeup was originally colored creams, waxes and flower petals for blush and lipstick and burnt matchsticks to darken the eyelash area. In 1909 the first known cosmetic company was started. This company was and still is known as Max Factor. Although there were other local companies that sold "makeup", Max Factor was the first company to distribute outside of their local area in 1927. Due to his strong connection with the film community Max Factor was able to use celebrity endorsements in advertising his products. This definitely came in handy when appealing to the masses. 


The same thing happens today. When someone sees their favorite celebrity wearing something whether it is clothes, makeup, or a hairstyle, they try to copy it. Think of Jennifer Aniston's hair from when she played Rachael in the shoe "Friends". That was the most copied celebrity hairstyle at that time. If you search "celebrity makeup tutorial" on YouTube, you will end up with over 2,600 results.


This boom in the interest of makeup has been very beneficial for the makeup industry. The billion dollar industry is able to market products for the "high end" clientele with the most expensive beauty product (a $600 for 1 oz. skin serum) to the lower end of the spectrum with products you can pick up from the beauty supply store. Even though now makeup can be and is for every woman, the industry still finds a way to divide the masses.

Blog 1: Welcome!

As you can tell by the title I have decided make my blog about the beauty industry and how it relates to pop culture. This blog will most likely appeal more to my female classmates, but I am sure the guys can get something out of it....right? My blog will mainly focus on the makeup part of the industry but I will also focus on art, fashion, hair, and Hollywood and how they all link back to makeup. Like I said, this might might not be the blog for guys. 

Beauty, or something that is considered beautiful, is different for everyone. Hence the saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."  However, when it comes to pop culture, beauty is in the eye of the masses. When you think of the "popular" celebrities, do you find any of them particularly unattractive? Well, maybe I should not word it that way because there are a few celebrities that I do not get what all the hype is about when it comes to their looks, i.e. that guy from the Twilight movies (whatever his name is). But that is a different story. Most celebrities are famous mainly for their talent. Oh, who am I kidding. Most celebrities are famous mostly for their looks. Like one of my favorite celebrities for example. She is kind of a guilty pleasure of mine since she really does not have any talent, but I still find her intriguing. The beautiful Miss Kim Kardashian. The Arminian Princess as she calls herself.  If you look at older pictures and videos of her when she first was thrust upon us thanks to a certain sex tape, and look at current videos and pictures, you can notice a definite change in appearance. Assuming she has not had plastic surgery, we can thank this change in appearance to the magic of makeup. When she first appeared in the limelight her makeup artist was Stephen Moleski, however, in the past 2 years or so, she has switched to makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic. In the pictures below you can see the difference between the two makeup artists' techniques. 

On the right, you can see she has a more youthful and more natural looking appearance and on the right she looks like sheaway and had a facelift. This is due to the fact that her current makeup artist, Mario, is a little too heavy handed with the concealer and under eye highlight. For you readers who do not know what concealers and under eye highlights are, do not worry I will fill you in. away and had a facelift. This is due to the fact that her current makeup artist, Mario, is a little too heavy handed with the concealer and under eye highlight. For you readers who do not know what concealers and under eye highlights are, do not worry I will fill you in. 

Concealers are used to block out any discoloration on the skin. Specifically under the eyes for "bags" and dark circles. An under eye highlight is usually a powder, but can also be a cream or liquid, that is placed under the eye, on the top of the cheekbones. You can also highlight the bridge of your nose, the cupid's bow of your lip, and the chin. The highlight is usually used in conjunction with conturing. Conturing is taking a pigment that is a few shades darker than your skin tone, either powder, cream or liquid, and shading the face. The contours are the temples or forehead, hollows of the cheeks, and jawline. By creating light and dark on the face, you are creating dimension. Think of a painting. When an artist paints, does he use only one shade or green for the trees and only one shade of blue for the sky? No. He uses multiple shades of color to make things appear further away and closer to the viewer thus making it appear more realistic.

I hope someone aside from myself finds this blog at least somewhat interesting as I am sure I will have fun writing.